BARNSLEY Hospital has made more than £1.4m in car parking fees over the last year - including almost £500,000 from staff.
Figures from NHS England have revealed that the trust earned £1.5m in car parking fees in 2023/24.
Of this, £486,000 was from parking for staff, with the remaining £1.1m for patients and visitors.
The data shows the trust also spent £171,000 on parking services over the same period, meaning in total it made £1.4m from parking.
It’s a 73.8 per cent increased from the £862,937 that was earned in 2022/23.
While it dwarfs the £257,350 of parking charges in 2021/22, meaning since 2022 the amount the hospital has earned has increased by a huge 482.9 per cent.
Across England, NHS trusts made a net revenue of £165.6m from parking charges.
This was from a total of £242.8m in car parking fees, after spending £77.2m to run parking services.
This included £70.5m charged to NHS staff.
GMB, a union which represents thousands of NHS staff, said that workers deserve better.
The union’s national secretary, Rachel Harrison, said NHS workers have suffered ‘rocketing workloads, chronic understaffing and the fallout from a global pandemic’.
She called for a scrap on parking charges for staff.
She said: “NHS workers have had their first above inflation pay rise after almost 15 years of cuts.
“They’ve suffered rocketing workloads, chronic understaffing and the fallout from a global pandemic.
“Health workers are on their knees - they need help and support.
“Charging them to park is kicking them while they are down.
“GMB calls on the Government and NHS employers to do the right thing and scrap staff car parking charges.”
The figures also show there were 1,168 available parking spaces across Barnsley Hospital.
Patricia Marquis, executive director for England of the Royal College of Nurses, said: “Nursing staff provide a vital public service and often work unsocial hours and in places where public transport is not always possible.
“They shouldn’t be forced to spend a significant portion of their wages just to park at work.”
She added all staff should be able to access ‘safe, sustainable and affordable’ transport, and urged employers and local authorities to work together on the issue.
NHS England said revenue from parking is put towards other services provided by trusts.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Hospital car park charges are the responsibility of individual NHS trusts, however any charges must be reasonable and in line with the local area.
“Free parking is available for all NHS staff who work overnight.”
